Metalworking Tools

Metalworking for the professional or DIY do-it-yourselfer is easier if you have the right tools
on hand to complete the project and keep you safe while working with metal. Tractor Supply
Co. carries all of the metalworking and welding tools you need to get the job done.

Sawing, Chiseling, and Filing Metals

Metal is surprisingly workable under muscle power by sawing, chiseling, and filing when you
use finely honed tools and the proper techniques.

A hacksaw is probably the most familiar metal-cutting tool and one of the most useful. Its
hardened-steel blade severs most metals found in or around the home. A hacksaw cuts
through metal as thick as one-third the length of its blade, though it might take you some
time.

When working with a hacksaw, avoid excessive pressure, no matter how hard the metal. Too
much pressure can cause the blade to snap or to flip out of its kerf, both of which are
dangerous.

General-use hacksaw blades have hardened teeth and are made from molybdenum-, carbon-,
or tungsten-alloy steel. Choose a blade according to the number of teeth per inch and the set
of the teeth the way they are angled on the cutting edge.

For efficient cutting, at least two teeth of a hacksaw blade must always be in contact with the
edge of the metal. If the metal is so thin that you can't keep two teeth on its edge, sandwich it
between two thin sheets of plywood for cutting.

You can adapt a number of power tools to cut metal. You can fit electric saber saws, jig saws,
and band saws with special ferrous blades. Power hacksaws are excellent tools for straight
cuts, but they are expensive and cannot cut curves.

No saw can handle all possible cuts in metal. Cuts from the center of a metal plate, for
example, are often beyond the reach of a hacksaw blade because the saw's frame gets in the
way. For such jobs, use either a hacksaw-blade holder without a frame or a cold chisel. The
cold chisel has a hardened cutting edge and a handle of slightly softer steel, which absorbs
the blows of a ball-peen hammer.

Always protect your eyes with safety%20goggles when using a cold chisel. Leather gloves
offer some protection from burrs and jagged edges but may reduce your dexterity in handling
thin sheets of metal. A better precaution is to file off the burrs immediately after cutting any
metal. Use metalworking files for this.
The four common kinds of cold chisels differ in shape according to their purpose. They range
in width from to 1 inch and come in various lengths. For safety and efficiency, keep a cold
chisel sharp and ground to a 60 to 70 angle at its cutting edge.

For efficiency, keep metal files clean. Tap the file handle on the work-bench after every few
strokes to rid it of metal particles, and brush the file thoroughly with a file card when the file
teeth get clogged.

A Well-Equipped Hacksaw

The adjustable C-shaped frame of the hacksaw holds blades 10 or 12 inches long. Hacksaw
blades vary from 4 to 32 teeth per inch. Mount the blade in the frame so the teeth will cut on
the forward pushing stroke. Generally, use blades with 4 to 16 teeth per inch for soft metals
that would clog a blade with finer teeth. Coarse-tooth blades usually have a raker set their
teeth are set in a straight line but are bent alternately to either side. The 14- and 18-tooth
blades in the illustration have a raker set. Fine-tooth blades usually have a wavy set their
teeth are bent in gently curving lines, as on the 24-tooth blade. This wavy pattern produces a
wider kerf, which prevents the blade from binding. When you want to saw sheet metal, make
sure the blade is fine enough so that at least two full teeth will be in the metal during the cut.
Thin sheet metal also can be sawn by clamping it between two pieces of wood, and sawing
through the wood-metal sandwich.

1. What are the differences between two kinds saw-blades?

Raker-set : their teeth are set in a straight line but are bent alternately to either side (14-18
teeth) / for thick metal sheet

Wavy-set : their teeth are bent in gently curving lines, as on the 24-tooth blade/ for thin
metal sheet
Choosing a Vise for Metalworking

Your metalworking vise, often called a machinist's vise, must be strong. Its iron body should
have 4- to 5-inch jaw faces of hardened steel. The swivel base positions work held in the
jaws. The small built-in anvil provides a hammering surface. The heavier the vise, the better.

Install the vise by bolting it to the left front corner of your workbench. Left-handers may
prefer to mount the vise on the right corner of the bench. To avoid marring metal in the vise
jaws, add readymade rubber jaw pads or homemade pads of wood, copper, or lead.

Metal Working Tools and Four Types of Cold Chisels for Metal Working

You can use cold chisels in metal working projects not only to cut through metal stock but
also to sculpt its surface and refine its edges. The most common cold-chisel blade has a flat,
wedge-shaped tip. Use it for rough shaping of metal, for splitting metal rods, and for shearing
the heads off bolts or rivets. A cape chisel, another common metalworking tool, is also
wedge-shaped but is ground to a much narrower tip.

Use it for cutting wedge-shaped grooves or channels in metal. A round nose chisel is exactly
that its tip is perfectly round. Use it for rounding the inside corners of a groove or a notch
and for cutting flutes. The diamond-point chisel comes to a point. Use it for squaring corners
and for cutting narrow lines in metal.
How many kinds of chisels are there? And what are
they used for?
There are 4 kinds of chisel, flat, diamond-point, cape
and round-nose
- flat chisel: for rough shaping of metal, for splitting metal
rods, and for shearing the heads off bolts or rivets.
-diamond-nose chisel: for squaring corners and for cutting narrow
lines in metal.

- cape: for cutting wedge-shaped grooves or channels in metal.

- round-nose : rounding the inside corners of a groove or a notch and
for cutting flutes

Selecting a Metalworking File

Files are available in a variety of shapes flat, round, half-round, and triangular. They are
classified according to their cut and degree of coarseness. The cut of a file refers to the
pattern of grooves across its face. Single-cut files have parallel gullets running diagonally;
they are well suited for fine filing or finishing work. Double-cut files have crisscrossed
gullets. They are twice as abrasive as single-cut files.

Curved-tooth files have deep, wide gullets that are cut in an arc pattern; these files are
excellent for working on the softer metals, such as aluminum.
In terms of coarseness, bastard files have deep gullets for rough shaping and surfacing. Use
second-cut files for general use, and use smooth files for finishing. Files range in length from
3 to 20 inches. The 8-imch, 10-inch, and 12-inch files are best for general use.

Choosing Screws, Nuts, and Bolts For Metalworking

When you make metal parts for disassembly, or when they are too thick to be pop-riveted,
fasten them with bolts or screws in threaded holes. Threaded fasteners come in a variety of
metals steel, brass, and aluminum and some have special finishes, such as oxide
coating, to prevent corrosion. They are sized by diameter and length, and the length does not
include the head except in the case of oval- and flat-headed machine screws. The strength
of a threaded fastener is graded the same as the metal from which it's manufactured.

Make sure the fasteners are long enough to completely penetrate both pieces of sheet metal.
To avoid corrosion and make the joint less conspicuous, choose a fastener of the same metal
when possible.

Bolts and screws used with metal are different from those used for wood. Machine screws,
for example, have blunt tips, and stove bolts have slotted heads. In general, use bolts with
nuts for heavy work and work that is accessible from both sides. Use screws for lighter work
that you can access from only one side. You can use screws with or without nuts but you'll
always need a nut with the hexagonal-headed cap screw.

Use the correct tools: Tighten bolts and nuts with wrenches, not pliers. Tighten slot-headed
stove bolts and screws with screwdrivers whose tips fit snugly into the head slots.

Machine screws have four different head styles oval, fillister, round, and flat. The common
sizes are No. 8 through No. 14; these range in diameter from 3/16 inch to 5/16 inch and
from inch to 4 inches long. The hexagonal nuts you'll sometimes use with them are like
those for bolts but are smaller; you might also use square nuts. You'll use cap screws, which
are threaded only partway along the shank, to join two parts where only one part has a tapped
and threaded hole. They range from 1/4 inch to 1- inches in diameter and from inch to 6
inches in length. Use thumbscrews when parts need to be taken apart; they come in the same
sizes and widths as machine screws and have either a flat or a winged head. Lag screws, also
called lag bolts, have a bolt-type head but are threaded like a screw. Use them to attach metal
to wood. They are available in the same sizes as carriage bolts.

Gripping Sheet Metal with a Screw

Punch or drill a hole through both pieces of sheet metal, using a metal-cutting bit of the same
diameter as the screw shaft. Place the tip of a sheet-metal screw into the hole and drive it in
with a screwdriver or a nut driver until it is tight. When you place the tip of a sheet-metal
screw in a drilled or punched hole and turn it clockwise, it will cut its own threads.

Installing a screw is speedier if you use a self-drilling sheet-metal screw with a tip shaped
like a drill bit. Turn the screw with a power drill fitted with a screwdriver or nut-driver
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